The present invention relates to a flexible disk drive used for driving a flexible disk which is used to record/reproduce information or data, in particular, to a flexible disk drive provided with a guide rod for guiding a magnetic head assembly (head carriage) in a tracking direction.
As well known in the art, the flexible disk drive (FDD) of the type is an apparatus which performs to record/reproduce information or data to/from a magnetic recording medium having a disk-shape contained in the flexible disk (FD) inserted into the flexible disk drive. Such as the flexible disk drive can be installed in an electric apparatus such as a personal computer.
For example, an existing flexible disk drive of the type is disclosed in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-216704 (JP2001-216704A). The existing flexible disk drive comprises a magnetic head for reading/writing data from/to the magnetic recording medium of the flexible disk, a head carriage disposed movably along a predetermined radial direction to the flexible disk (tracking direction) loaded in the FDD and supporting the magnetic head at a tip thereof, a stepping motor for moving the head carriage along the tracking direction, and a spindle motor for rotatably driving the magnetic recording medium with the flexible disk loaded in the FDD. The spindle motor is structured by a direct-drive (DD) motor.
The head carriage is guided in the tracking direction by a rod-shaped member so called a guide rod. The guide rod is rigidly attached to a main frame of the flexible disk drive by a metal fitting. For example, the metal fitting is made of metal having elasticity such as stainless steel (such as SUS304) and has a length corresponding to the guide rod. Namely, the metal fitting is arranged so as to hold the guide rod onto the main frame. The guide rod extends through through-holes in and slidably held by the head carriage. Furthermore, opposite end portions of the metal fitting are rigidly attached to the main frame by screws, respectively. In other words, the metal fitting is fixedly mounted on the main frame by the use of two screws.
With the miniaturization (that is especially the thickness reduction), the weight reduction, and the manufacturing cost reduction of the electric apparatus mentioned above, the flexible disk drive to be installed in the electric apparatus is also required to fulfil the miniaturization described above. In order to satisfy the requirement, the reduction of the part number of the flexible disk drive is also effective.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flexible disk drive having parts reduced in number, and therefore being produced with a reduced thickness.
The other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become clear as the following description proceeds.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flexible disk drive for driving a flexible disk used to record/reproduce data, the flexible disk drive comprising a main frame, a magnetic head for recording/reproducing data to/from the flexible disk, a head carriage movably mounted on the mainframe and supporting the magnetic head for carrying the magnetic head in a tracking direction, and a guide rod attached by a metal fitting on the main frame of the flexible disk drive for guiding the head carriage in the tracking direction. The metal fitting has a longitudinal member and having first and second ends. The first and the second ends are provided with a protruding/caved portion and a hole portion, respectively. The protruding/caved portion of the fitting metal is formed on the first end of the metal fitting and engaged with a caved/protruding portion formed on the main frame. The hole portion of the fitting metal is formed on the second end of the metal fitting. A male screw is screwed into a female screw formed on the main frame through the hole portion.